I'm sure you've realized by now it’s much better to drive with your low beams on in the fog than to use your high beams. That idea struck me the other day as a natural teaching moment when I was driving early in the morning through a dense fog. The conditions forced me to use my low beams, slow down, and concentrate on the road in front of me.
Living in the Moment
This is how we have to approach our daily lives, being proactively and intentionally aware, and involved in the present moment---being mindful of the present. This living in the moment is what is called mindfulness. Even when we have short- and long-term goals, we accomplish them by meeting objectives one at a time, in the present moment.
Sometimes you need to slow down, focus on the now.
We often focus too much on the future with all the possible twists and turns, unexpected obstacles, and places to go and things to do. It’s like entering a foggy stretch on the road. Sometimes it’s important to slow down, take a deep breath, and focus on the now, the road in front of you.
Headed in Right Direction
When you make every moment of your day matter as much as possible, concentrating on what you should be doing at that time, it is a way to make sure you are headed in the right direction in whatever you are doing. When driving in the fog, if you patiently focus on the road you can see, you reach your destination safely.
Looking at the fog metaphor from another perspective, consider the crystallized moisture that hovers before you while you are driving as a spiritual calmness and not as a foreboding event.
Consider it to be the Lord inviting you to be at peace with the present while you move forward in life, focusing on what is important and not all the distractions that leap out at us from life's berms, side roads, and ditches.
Concentrate on What's Important
If you have distracting thoughts about all the things you have to accomplish that day, look at them as part of the scenery along the roadside and then pass them by, not giving them a second thought.
Finally, when you rise in the morning, take a deep breath, turn to the Lord, and ask him to help you concentrate on what is REALLY important to him that day and keeping you successfully on the path of life he has chosen for you.
Additional reading:
Listen to God's Words
Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)
Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. (Proverbs 4:25)
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. (Psalm 119:105)
Also read: Proverbs 16:3, Romans 8:5, James 1:22-25
In the Words of Others
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.” Bill Keane
“Be happy in the moment, that's enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.” Mother Theresa
“I love a broad margin to my life. Sometimes, in a summer morning, having taken my accustomed bath, I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise till noon, rapt in a reverie.” Henry David Thoreau
Think About It
Have there been times you became distracted instead of concentrating on the task at hand? If yes, what were the consequences?
When you lose focus on the present and begin worrying about what is going to happen in the future, how does this affect your personal or professional life?
How have you been able to be mindfully present in your personal or professional life? If not, how do you propose to change?
Cite specific instances when being in the now benefited you in your personal or professional life? In your Christian walk? How will you keep the Lord involved in the process?
